An Epic Tale
by RedtheGamr05
Summary: Done for now, but I'll finish it in a bit.
1. An Accident

An Epic Tale 

Hello, if you've read my other story, you'd probably know this is only my second fic. I came up with this on a whim, so don't expect it to be too good. I plan on updating this regularly, so expect more chapters coming up soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rune Factory, or any of the other games made by its creators.

Chapter 1: An Accident

"Yawn…"

Stretching, I looked around my one roomed home, which was recently remodeled by Neumann, the town carpenter. The early morning atmosphere, made it feel empty though. Ignoring this feeling, I felt around my pillow, looking for something. Finding what I was looking for, I took out a small, brilliant stone.

"The White Stone…" I said mouth agape. I still didn't believe I'd found it, having spent days searching Toros Cave, nearly killing this season's crops through neglect, so focused on the task I was. Slowly, I stood up and began putting on my armor and work gloves. As perverse as this sounded, I started thinking of her as I did this. With her brilliant smile, sandy blond hair, and crimson eyes, I could hardly believe I was… involved with her.

"Rosetta." That one word alone brought a smile to my face. Remembering what I had to do, I shook my head, banishing the distracting thoughts. I took my favorite sword from its regular place at my bedside, marveling at the runes I carved into it. I named the weapon 'Rune Sword' because of this. Reading the inscriptions, I blushed as I always did, remembering what they stood for. Sighing, I strapped the sword to my side, tied a shield to my back, and carried all the tools of my trade in two bundles under my arms.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" Pluck the uh…Cockadoodle crowed from my rooftop. At the sound, I immediately took to work, plowing, sowing, fertilizing, and slicing. I stopped at around nine, buying seeds from Jean's shop, and pausing to exchange words with my squealing girlfriend. Finally able to leave the establishment, I… ran back to the Farm.

"Beautiful…" I said, finishing up my work while admiring the sunset. I sat near a tree with Spot, a silver wolf with whom I'd formed a close bond. For almost half an hour I stayed there, mesmerized by the sunset as it changed the color of my fields from a golden yellow, to a deep red. Suddenly, the earth shook as an explosion ripped through the area. I jumped up, alert and looking for the source of the explosion. Breaking into a run, I headed for the source.

Mist's House.

I barreled through the door, with Spot following closely.

"Stay Here" I ordered. Spot sat on his haunches and wagged his tail, but still managing to look fierce. Hurrying, I ran through the house, jumping over furniture, and practically bouncing off the walls. I ended up outside, behind the house. There, in a makeshift backyard, stood something I never wanted to see.

"Oh…My…Goddess…" Standing there, in the middle of a ring of blackened grass…was a Monster Generator. A few feet from it, stood a pink-haired woman writing on a clipboard.

"Lynette…" I hissed, walking over to interrogate the former Sechs Lieutenant.

"What ARE you DOING!?!? I thought you were done with this…this…" I trailed off, leaving her to finish the sentence; instead, she looked angry and exasperated by my outburst.

"I am not doing what you think I am doing." She said, looking as if the machine in front of her hadn't just exploded. Still listing things in her clipboard, she added,

"This is a Time Machine, not a Monster Generator."

"Time Machine?" I asked, not familiar with the device.

"Yes, Time Machine. It allows anyone to travel through time, past or future." Still saying this, she looks at me,

"If only I could find a Test Subject…" With her suggestive tone, it only took me a moment to figure out her intentions.

"No."

"Please?" She asked.

"NO." I shouted.

We would have carried on like this for a while, but after ten minutes of arguing, we were interrupted by a certain…turnip-lover.

"Llyynneettttee!!!!" Mist yelled, running over to us and blatantly ignoring all the debris scattered about. I would have laughed at her silly appearance, if not for the fact that she tripped over all piece of garbage, pushing me while she fell, causing me to fall into the open doors of Lynette's machine.

"HA!" shouted a triumphant Lynette, quickly closing the doors to the machine. Having hit my head, I wasn't able to fight back when she closed them.

"Hey…don't…" I cried weakly, pounding on the doors with my hand.

"Do not worry, this is just a test! You will come back sooner or later!" Lynette yelled into the chamber, all the while typing something into the keypad next to the machine. Numbers appeared above my head in a screen, I realized she'd put in a date.

"Spring 1st…" I read, my eyes widening when I saw she put in the date of spring 1st… ten years from now! Adrenaline pumping, I pounded on the doors with renewed energy, denting the metal and hurting my hands.

Too late…

Lynette pushes a button, and my vision is filled with white.

"Huh?" surprised, I looked around, and there was nothing I could see besides… white. I felt like I was sitting on something, but I couldn't see what it was.

"That's weird…maybe…I'm dead?" my words echoed off unseen walls. Then, in a flash of light, a woman appeared before me. With her sea green hair and flowing white dress, I thought her nothing short of a Goddess… which, in reality, made my death theory that much more plausible.

"Who are you?" I asked her, I didn't really need to ask her, she was going to tell me anyway.

"TADAA! I am the Harvest Goddess!" she answered, with a voice like birdsong. If I could move, I would've been on the floor, worshipping her, but I couldn't, so I settled with questioning.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, thinking I had died, and gone crazy.

"I have a request I'd like to make of you…" she said, lifting my head with her hand, at the touch, I suddenly felt like touching her back…

"What is it?" I asked through half-closed eyes, barely aware of my blushing face.

"I need you to save the world yet again…" she whispered in my ear…which did feel pretty good…

"Wait. WHAT!?" I asked, startled.

"Why?" Drawing up to her full height, she explained the situation.

"You see, several years from now, problems will arise in the Norad Kingdom. Now, Fate has already chosen a Champion to defeat the source of the problem, but I do not think that he is ready to take on such an important role. While I was still in that time period, I heard tell of a Legendary farmer, who took a stand against an invading empire, and defeated them. I came to seek him out. THAT is where you come in. I need you to help this potential hero. Guide him, and eventually solve this crisis." When she finished, I simply stared at her.

"Wait…so, I'M the legendary farmer?" I asked. She nodded.

"But won't it be…unusual for someone to see me… knowing how supposedly 'famous' I am?"

"No, I will enchant you with several gifts… one of which will stop anyone from fully recognize you." She said. I thought about this. While farming had been my primary occupation since my past 'exploits', it was terribly boring. I could do this for some fun. But I didn't want anyone to worry about me while I was away… especially Rosetta…

"What will happen to the citizens of Kardia while I'm gone?" I asked, I didn't want to tell her about my background. No matter how beautiful she was. She smiled knowingly at me.

"Do not worry, when you come back, it will be as if no time at all had gone by. You will be reunited with your friends and loved one soon, they will not even know you were gone." She stated. Surprised she knew about my concerns, I blinked. But it seemed she had me beat, I weighted my options, and found them not in my favor. And so, reluctantly, I made my decision.

"Okay… I'll do it…" I said, my head drooping down.

"Wise choice." With that, she sat down in front of me, leaned towards me until her face was inches from mine. The scent of Spring filled the air around us.

"I will reveal the use of one last gift to you… it will allow you to interact with the hero without causing too much suspicion. This gift will allow you to transform into a form that best suits your personality. You will be able to do this after coming into contact with the hero, after that encounter, you will do activate the gift at will." She then made to leave, but I still wanted to know something.

"wait... how will I know who the hero is?" She paused, and smiled another beautiful smile at me.

"You will know when the time is right… You will know…" She said.

"Wha—"My response was cut off when I felt a sudden rush of motion, which was followed by the sensation of her lips pressed against my own. An instant later,

Darkness.

I woke up, sitting on a bench under a cherry blossom tree. When my vision cleared, I saw a pair of honey brown eyes staring at me.

"Aah!" I yelled, not expecting to wake up to that. When I recovered, I saw that those eyes belonged to a man. I looked closer, observing him, committing his face to memory, just in case. He had fiery red hair, held up with a sky blue bandana. The large sword strapped to his back gave him away, he was a warrior. But by the way he stood, and by the well-used hoe he carried in his hand, he was also a farmer.

'Just like me…' I thought. The man seemed irritated at me scrutinizing him. To break the silence, he spoke.

"Who are you?" He stated. Fixing me with a smoldering glare, for just a moment, his face started to look like the ones of many daemons I had fought.

"Ra—"I started, but stopped. I probably shouldn't, people might recognize me, Goddess' spell or no. I decided to use one of my monster's names instead.

"Uh… the name's Ren…" I finished…maybe that wasn't the best name… My worries didn't seem to reach the other guy though. He still looked at me warily, his eyes lingering on my sword a little too long for my comfort, but he found nothing about me that was a threat. He held out his hand.

"My name's Kyle." He said. I was going to respond, when he suddenly took my hand and shook it, all the while beaming a big smile at me. Maybe he wasn't so hostile after all…

"Nice to meet you, Ren! We don't have many visitors here in Alvarna! So what brings you here?" Breaking away from his death grip of a hand shake, only to find hid other hand on my shoulder, I had other choice but to talk to him.

"… I'm taking a vacation from my farm work, I was going to take it here… in Alvarna." I hurriedly explained… not too bad for an excuse made up on the fly. Kyle seemed to buy it.

"So you're a farmer? Cool, I am too. Wait… your…on vacation? I never seem to have time to take one, what with managing work and a family and all… you know…"

"WHAT?" He had a family? He didn't look older than me… Heck, he looker younger.

"Yeah, happily married, a kid running around… and another on the way!" He said, still grinning at me. I stared at him, just slightly disturbed. Finally, I decided to change the subject.

"So, I barely arrived here an hour ago…" I lied.

"… So you mind showing me around?" Kyle thinks about my request, seeing nothing wrong about it, he agrees.

"…Sure…" with that, he turns around, and starts walking. I stand up, test my legs, and seeing nothing wrong with them, follow. Our first stop was a very familiar place to me.

A Farm.

-End

Author:

So that's the end of it… a little long… but it was worth it. Hoped you readers liked it!

Please remember to review, 'till then, bye!


	2. Settling In part 1

An Epic Tale

Welcome readers, to chapter two! Now there aren't any _major _changes to any of the characters in the story, except for Kyle's son, who I named Arc, just because I named him that in my game. Anyway, once you guys are done reading, you won't have to wait long for chp. 3, I'm already working on it. J

Disclaimer: I do not own RF, or any of the other games in the franchise.

Chapter 2: Settling In (Part 1)

'_I need you to help this potential hero. Guide him, and eventually solve this crisis…' _

The Goddess' words echoed in my mind.

"Hey, Ren! You coming or what?" Kyle shouted.

"Huh?" I grunted, now knowing where I was. I was standing in the middle of a dirt road, south of what appeared to be some kind of crossroad. Kyle, my unwanted guide, stood next to a strange hut. Hurrying, I caught up to him in front of it.

" Hm… so… is that your house?" I asked, pointing to the hut. He seemed to find this funny.

"No, of course not! That's my monster barn." he explained, opening the door and letting me see the monsters inside.

"uh…" I didn't know what to make of it. On that floor, there were four monsters. Three of them I identified as Woolies, and one was a wolf monster that looked a lot like Spot. For a second, I entertained the idea of Spot coming back in time with me.

"what do you think?" asked Kyle.

"I think… you have some very healthy monsters!" I joked, He didn't get this, but instead took it as a compliment.

"thanks!" he said, abruptly closing the door. After, he started walking to the right of the hut, not a few paces forward, he started to get shorter… it took me a moment to figure out he was going down a flight of stairs. Following him, I went down, staring at the side of someone's house, which was built right next to the stairs. At the same time, Kyle turned left, disappearing from my field of vision, thanks to the house. Turning at the same spot, I found Kyle standing before a huge field. Slowing to a stop next to him, I stared in awe at the blossoming field.

It was practically alive.

Everywhere I looked, I saw crops, crops, and more crops! Turnips, strawberries, and even cabbages covered every inch of it. There was no speck of dirt, no sign of any stray piece of stone or wood. Every piece of land was used. Still observing the fields, I'd forgotten that Kyle was there. When he started to acknowledge me again, he grinned and said,

"like what you see?" Startled, I tried to give an adequate reply, when all of a sudden, I saw a flash of red behind me, I turned around, only to see a glint of silver from the corner of my eye. The next thing I knew, I was pinned down by… a 10 year old!?!

"who are you and what are you doing here?" yelled the child. Now, I any other case, I could have thrown the little brat off, but when I saw the broadsword he held to my neck, I admit, I did start to feel… nervous. Luckily, Kyle came to my rescue.

"Arc! What are you doing!?! Get off the man!" he shouted, hauling the boy off of me. Sensing he had done something wrong, Arc bowed his head down,

"sorry…dad…" he whimpered. I stood up, dusting myself off, once that was done, I practically shouted,

"Dad? So… you guys… are related?" Kyle picked the boy up, as if the weight was nothing to him,

"yup." he simply stated.

"Hm… now that I do look at you, you guys do seem to look alike." I said. Kyle put the boy down, only to nudge him in my direction.

"you know what to do." He said stiffly, giving his son the 'if you don't do it, you're in big trouble' look. Arc stuck his lip out, managing a very funny looking pout, but, seeing that doing that wouldn't get him anywhere, he gave up and apologized.

"Sorry… Mr." he said. Seeing that no real harm was done to me, I forgave him.

"It's ok." Turning to Kyle, I chuckled.

"Some boy you got there," I said. Arc smiled at Kyle, who in return, answered with a grin of his own, and as if it were even possible, they started to look a lot like each other doing that.

When they were done, and when I'd had my share of laughing at them, Kyle said,

"Now, let's go meet the rest of the family, shall we?" Walking up to the house next to the stairs, which, I figured, must have been their house to begin with, Kyle opened the door. Pushing past me, Arc ran into the house, shouting,

"Mom! Dads home!" he ran into the kitchen, leaving Kyle and I in the living/dining room. I took the moment of peace to observe my surroundings. Looking around, I noticed that everything seemed to match. Every wall that I could see was painted in warm shades of brown, the color scheme only being disturbed every now and then with scenic photos of the countryside. The floors were made with the same idea. All the furniture even _looked_ like it was designed _for _this house, everything had an antique feeling, but it all functioned like they were new.

"Welcome Home!" a woman's voice disrupted my thoughts. I turned around to see who it was… and what greeted my eyes right at that moment could only be described as…

_Deja'vu._

Standing there, in the doorway, was Ceci!_ Cecilia!_ I rubbed my eyes, I tried to confirm what I'd seen. Yes, _definitely._ other than a few differences, she looked the same as she did when I last saw her in Kardia. From her yellow orange hair, to her purple dress, she was every bit the little girl I knew back then. She came in, holding a tray of food. Smiling, she said,

"I thought we could have some stew… Oh Hi!" putting the food down, she made her way over to us, I could tell she wasn't having an easy time due to her bulging belly.

"Hello there! What's your name?'' she said.

_Raguna! My name's Raguna! Don't you remember me?!? I wanted to shout, instead, I said,_

"It's Ren, nice to meet you." in my most casual tone. All the while watching Kyle as he snaked his arm around her.

"I found him dozing off under the cherry blossoms when I was returning from Trieste Forest." he whispered next to her ear, _and_ managing to steal a kiss from her right after. I watched all of this with mild amusement.

"Oh stop." she squeaked, pushing him away, which I could tell was really just a half hearted attempt. Regaining her composure, she took her tray and set it on the table and, looking at me, she asked,

"we were just going to have lunch, would you like to join us?"

'hmm…' I thought, while my mind urged me to go on and explore the town, my body wanted me to eat. Deciding between these, I picked one depending on my mood. In the end, hunger won over adventure.

"Sure, I'd love to join you." I answered. A few minutes later, we all sat down to eat, Kyle and Ceci on the right of the table, Arc and I on the left. The food was delicious, Ceci was one hell of a cook! But other than that, nothing really happened then… except that one conversation…

" Hey Red, what did you do before you came here, huh?" Arc asked through a mouthful of food, I blinked, not thinking he'd ask something like that.

"uh… I was a farmer…" I said, giving him a small smile. He didn't seem to buy it.

"Then why do you have a sword?" he asked, pointing to the weapon still strapped to my side.

"… I'm a warrior on the side…" I lied. Arc seemed to believe me this time. Glancing across from me, I saw Kyle and Ceci exchange nervous glances. When I saw Arc's face suddenly light up, I started getting nervous too.

"Hey Ren, could I fight you after lunch?'' he said after a long silence. I nearly choked on my food right then.

"Haha… sorry, I don't fight… kids…" I said, trying to put down the topic. Instead, I seemed to make him angry.

"I'm not a kid!" he shouted, slamming on the table with his fists. Thankfully, Kyle seemed to know this was about to happen. Standing up, he said,

"Arc, go to your room, please." in a quiet, but serious tone.

"but--" Arc began,

"No, no buts. Go to your room _now."_ Kyle said again. Caught in the middle, I could do nothing but watch. Arc looked like he was about to cry, I thought he would go to his room, but instead, he ran out of the house. Not a second after, Kyle made to go after him, I put my arm in front of him, stopping him momentarily.

" I'll go get him, I caused this, now let me fix this." I murmured. He understood what I meant, and sat back down.

" ok, I'll give you an hour, but after that, I'm coming after you guys." he said, smiling a bit. I nodded, thankful for the chance he gave me. Turning, I ran out of the house. Going back up the stairs, I stopped running when I got to the road between the town and the crossroads.

' where could he have gone off to?' I thought, looking around. I wanted to search the town first, but an instinct told me to go the other way. I turned right at the crossroads, ending up in a forest. At its entrance was a sign.

"Trieste Forest…" I read, eyeing the sign. I remember Kyle saying something about the place, but he didn't say much other than the place's name. Shrugging off those thoughts, I unsheathed my sword and shield, walking into the forest.

"Huh. Well this is new." I said, looking at a weird portal as apple monsters jumped out of it. Charging in, I dispatched the monsters and portal. Moving north, I encountered several portals and monsters. I went through them all, not even tiring due to my past experience. After destroying a few more portals, I stopped in front of a huge entrance. The entrance itself was blocked off, the whole thing was overgrown with weeds.

_Sigh… "A dead end…" _I said, disappointed. I made to leave, but I stopped when I heard someone yell from behind the door,

"Someone! Help me!" when I heard it, I instantly knew who it was.

"Arc!" I yelled, trying to untangle the vines. When I did, I saw a glimpse of a scared Arc, fighting off what appeared to be… five orcs?!? Knowing I didn't have much time, I slashed through the foliage with my sword, cutting a few vines each time.

"Ugh! This'll take me forever!" I panicked. I knew this wasn't going to help. Clearing my thoughts, I concentrated, channeling my energy into my sword. When I couldn't hold it anymore, I let go.

"Power Wave!" I shouted, slashing through the plants in one swing, I watched in amazement as the vines were engulfed in a yellow light coming from my blade. Shaking my head, I jumped into the fray, trying to get the orcs away from Arc. The latter noticed me, and immediately, started to fight back. Not a few seconds into the fight, I found both of us in the middle of five very angry, very tough-looking orcs. The orcs tried to land a hit on one or both of us, kicking and punching at any exposed areas. I, on the other hand, tried to defend myself. Five minutes in, I started to notice my movements getting slower, I berated myself, trying to keep my energy up. Suddenly, I heard a yelp as one of the monsters managed to get through Arc's defenses, hitting the boy on the head with the flat side of it's axe, knocking him unconscious. I took the extra time for the monster to regain its footing, plunging my blade into the back of it's neck, killing it. I picked up Arc's limp body, running through the gap in the ring of monsters. But I tripped over the monster's corpse, dropping Arc, and falling on my side. I tried to stand up, when I was able to, I spotted the monsters running toward Arc's body, weapons raised.

"Leave Him ALONE!!!!" I yelled, charging at the orcs at full speed, sword at the ready. Next thing I know,

_My vision turned red._

Author: Cliffhanger! That's the end of the chapter! As said at the starting, I'm already writing the next chapter. That's all I have to say, so… don't forget to review!

Bye! -Red


	3. Settlin In part 2

An Epic Tale

Author's note: hello everyone! And welcome to Chp. 3 of 'An Epic Tale' I am excited to finally be able to publish this part of the story. For the regulars, I'll explain why it took me so long… you see, I recently got RFF, and so I spent lots of time playing it. Other than that, my computer acted all screwy, so I had to type up everything all over again. Not to mention all the editing and errors that were made… anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own RF, or any of its games. Although it would be cool if I did.

Chapter 3: Settling In (Part 2: Final)

"Leave him alone!" I yelled, gripping my weapon tightly as I charged at the orcs, who had almost closed in on an unconscious Arc. But suddenly, my vision blurred, my forest surroundings replaced by a thin red mist. I started to feel… good. My senses seemed sharper than ever, my point of view closer to the ground… but then, I blacked out.

I couldn't remember _anything _at all after that.

_Darkness…_ wait… A light??

"Is he gonna be okay?" asked a familiar voice. Funny, it sounded… distant…

"He'll survive. He just collapsed out of exhaustion." A feminine voice answered.

"Ugh…" I groaned, alerting the people in the room of my awakening.

"Doctor Natalie! He's awake!" said the first voice, which I recognized as Arc.

"No need to get so worked up, I told you he would be fine. I only surprised he woke up so quickly." Replied a voice, which I guessed probably belonged to the doctor Arc was speaking to.

"… Huh? What… happened? Ugh! My head…" I tried to say, but couldn't due to my pounding head. Still rubbing a temple, I weakly attempted to sit up in the bed I'd been placed in. I stopped my efforts when a hand pushed me back down. I looked up to see the doctor calmly list something down on her clipboard.

"Alright, Mr.… Ren, as this young man calls you," she said, gesturing to Arc, "You have no problems from what I can see, you're completely healthy. So you should be fine within a day's rest." She finished, smiling slightly down at me. Turning, she left the room, saying she would be back to check on me soon. When she'd left the room entirely, arc stepped forward, stopping near my bed.

"… Thanks for saving me. You're not as bad as I thought." He whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. I looked at him in surprise, not used to the loud youth using… _polite_ words. I squinted, looking at his face closely; it didn't take all of my intuition to know he was bursting with something else to say.

"Arc… did you see anything weird?" I asked. Arc eyes widened at my question, and, running over to the door, waved, and said,

"No, I didn't! Anyway, cya later Mr. Ren!" turning quickly, he sprinted out the door.

"*sigh…* what's _he_ hiding?" I asked myself, leaning back into my pillow.

The rest of the day was fairly calm. I spent all day in bed, being checked on by the doctor from time to time, and meeting people who'd heard of my 'heroic' deed. The first person I met happened to be the doctor's son… at least I thought he was her son. He introduced himself as Ray, a doctor-in-training. Not too long after, I met someone else. Her name was Dorothy, she was the nurse.

I had a pleasant time with both of them, me telling them both as much as I knew of what had happened, only keeping a few details to myself, and them listening, with Ray 'oohing' and 'ahhing' at some things, and with Dorothy berating me at each dangerous stunt a told them about.

Soon after, I met people who appeared to be their families. A woman named Rosalind introduced herself as Ray's wife, along with two little girls I took as Ray's kids. They said their names were Sera and Serena.

"Those are nice names," I said, earning twin blushes from both girls.

I also met Dorothy's Family. At first, I didn't know what to make of the quiet man who introduced himself as Barrett, Dorothy's husband.

"Nice to meet you, Barrett."

"…"

I then noticed a feather coming out from Barrett's side. I thought it was nothing and almost looked the other way, but stopped when the feather moved.

"Who is that?" I asked, curious. Barrett moved to one side without a word, revealing a small child in a… cute red outfit.

"Aw… What a pretty little girl!" I nearly shouted. Just then, Barrett stifled a laugh, and the child looked up at me with a small frown.

"Um… my name's Lionel… and I'm a boy." He said. I blinked at him.

"Ahahaha! Oh! I'm so sorry! I really thought you were a girl, what with your clothes and all…" I apologized; I was relieved when he didn't look too offended.

"It's okay," Lionel smiled. "I get that all the time." I started to say something, when Doctor Natalie came in,

"Sorry everyone, visiting hours are over, please leave, Ren needs to rest now." She said.

"Oh, well, it was nice meeting you Ren. Do visit sometime." Ray said, putting an arm around Rosalind and leading the girls to the door.

"Yes… please visit… sometime…" Dorothy added, glancing at me before walking out the door with Barrett and Lionel.

"… Nice to meet you." Was all he said.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you, Mr. Ren!" Lionel piped, following his parents. When they were all gone, Natalie closed the door and went to a switch near my bed.

"Good Night, Mr. Ren. Please call if you need anything." She said, flicking the switch down and dimming the lights. She left, leaving me for the night. I managed to fall into a comfortable sleep minutes later.

_The Next Day…_

"Ugh…" I grumbled groggily. My vision to awhile to clear, but when it did, I found myself staring into light brown eyes that were… familiar…

"Agh!" I yelled. Scrambling away from the sight. I managed to recover quickly though. Finally regaining my composure, I looked back and saw Arc standing there.

"Good Morning, Ren!" he shouted.

"… Uh… Good Morning to you too, Arc." I sputtered out, still shaken. Suddenly, Arc went up to my side and gripped my arm.

"Ow." I grunted, wincing from the sudden pressure. "I take it you 'remembered' what you had to say?"

"Yeah I do! Anyway…" Arc trailed off, but brightened when he remembered for real.

"That was so Cool Ren! I didn't know you knew magic!" he exclaimed. I only blinked.

"Uh... yeah, I admit I could cast a fireball or tw—"

"No! I meant transforming magic! I didn't know you could turn into a monster!" He squeezed my arm again.

"Ow! So… I—wait, What?!" I sputtered again, confused.

"I mean what I mean! I saw you turn into some kind of wolf thing and rip those orcs apart!" he shouted, his eyes glimmering from the memory.

'I… turned into… a monster?' I thought. All of a sudden, it all came back to me.

"Of Course!"I shouted, sitting up straight, nearly knocking Arc off his feet in the process. This was another one of the Goddess' 'gifts'.

"Of course what?" Arc asked, momentarily afraid. Not wanting to give anything away just yet, I quickly thought of a lie.

"Uh… You must have been hallucinating, Arc. I couldn't have turned into such a beast, its impossible! I was knocked out like you were." I said quickly, smiling inwardly at myself. Yet he didn't seem to buy it.

"So… if I _was_ hallucinating, what really happened to the orcs?" He asked, with a tone that implied 'I caught you! You shape-shifting demon!' knowing this, I thought up another lie.

"They probably ran off, thinking we weren't threats anymore…" This seemed to convince him.

"Okay, I believe you!" He said, turning around and sitting on a chair near me. At the same time, Doctor Natalie walked in, holding that clipboard of hers.

"Okay, Mr. Ren, you are free to go, just try and takes things easy for a while." She stated, eyeing me thoughtfully for a moment.

"Oh, thank you," I said, swinging my legs over the bedside. I was then I noticed that I didn't have my clothes and armor on, just a hospital gown.

"Uh…Where are my clothes?"I asked, confused and surprised. Just then, Arc tossed a small bundle at me.

"Don't worry, I got you covered! Literally! Ha-ha!" he laughed. Catching the bundle, I unwrapped it, revealing a pile of clothes. Looking closely, I realized that these were Kyle's clothes. They looked very similar to the outfit I'd seen him in the other day, but these were colored with warm shades of green and brown, like a tree.

"Dad sent those with me when I wanted to come visit you." Arc explained. "Just hope you guys're the same size."

"Hm…" I murmured, examining the fabrics. Finding nothing wrong with them, I proceeded to put them on. When I was completely clothed, I studied myself in a nearby mirror.

I looked… different. To say the least. The clothes themselves I didn't have a problem with. What I did have a problem with was the _feeling._ On Kyle, they looked natural. On him they looked sharp, but still casual. But on me though… they felt… awkward.

The shirt made me feel uncomfortable, seeing as the garment itself ended a good two inches _above_ my navel. The shorts were, in contrast, a little longer, and very breezy. I liked those. Luckily, I didn't have to wear sandals, finding my own boots near my bed. Seeing I was done, Arc impatiently asked,

"You ready to go?"

"What for?" I asked.

"To go back to the house!" he shouted. "Dad said he wanted to see you."

"*Sigh…* Does this have anything to do with him giving me anything that came from his wardrobe?" I asked sarcastically, pointing at my ridiculous get up. Both of us laughed openly at the joke.

"I don't know… he didn't tell me…" He said, wiping a tear from his eye. Still chuckling slightly, I walked out the door with Arc after saying goodbye to Dr. Natalie, Ray, and Dorothy.

"So how do we get back to the farm?" I asked.

"Oh, we just take the next turn we come to; it's just past the general store." Arc answered, pointing to the nearest building. I looked at it with interest.

"Hey, Arc…"

"Yeah?"

"Do we _have_ to get to the farm as quick as possible?" I finished asking.

"…no, at least I don't think so…" Arc answered, with a tone that said, 'ahh, I get what you're saying…'

"So… you think Kyle won't mind if I went and introduced myself to the locals?"

"No, he won't. Mind if I come along?" Arc asked.

"Not at all, I do need a tour guide anyway." I said, failing to hide a small smirk from forming.

"Then… we should start with the store!" Arc shouted gleefully, stopping in front of the aforementioned place. Opening the door, we stepped into a small room, filled with seeds and fruits from wall to wall, so full it was, I could hardly walk anywhere.

"Welcome!" a big, rough-looking man in his late forties greeted us.

"Hello!" a small woman said, walking out from behind the strange man.

"Hey Douglas! Hey Mana!" Arc shouted. Walking over to them, being bear hugged by the big man, and having his cheeks pinched by the woman. After the all the hugging and pinching was done, only then did the two strangers notice me.

"Well, hello there stranger what's your name?" The man named Douglas asked.

"Daddy, this is the person Ceci told me about, the one who saved Arc, his name's Ren." Mana finished before I was able to utter a word.

"Oh! So _you're_ the Ren I've been hearing about! You've been the talk of the town since you got here. By the way, thanks for saving little Arc here, he's never learned that the dungeons are no play place for a kid like him." Douglas boomed, rubbing Arc's head. The latter tried several times to squirm out of the burly man's grip, and, finally succeeding, said,

"Okay, Ren and I've gotta go, cya later!" he shouted, running out of the store. I calmly waved goodbye to both and walked out.

"What's next?" I asked.

"That would be the Bathhouse, but that place doesn't open 'till 3, so I guess it's the Blacksmith's shop!" Arc replied, running ahead of me and walking backwards for a bit, I briefly considered tripping him over.

"Okay, we're here!" he exclaimed, pointing to the building next to us. Walking in, we were hit with an intense heat, I was nearly blown away, but Arc seemed used to the temperatures.

"Well hello, little human… and Human." A silver-haired man said, walking over to us from a nearby forge.

"Hey, Jake," Arc answered.

"Hello," I said nervously, something about the man unnerved me.

"Jake? Who're you talking to? Do we have customers?" someone yelled. When that someone came into the room, I had to admit, I was surprised. Standing in front of us was a woman, probably about as old as Douglas. She was hardly dressed, with only a thin shirt and pants covering her body.

"Hello, welcome! My name's Tanya, may I interest you in some sort of weapon?" She asked, looking at me in particular.

"Uh… no, I have my own weapon." I said.

"Well, okay." Tanya said, not a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Hey, Tanya! How're you today?" Arc asked from behind me, "This is Ren; he wanted to go around town, introduce himself to people."

"Nice to meet you, Tanya." I said, holding out my hand. I was a little surprised when she took it with a little too much force.

"Nice to meet you too, Ren!" She answered. "Hey, Jake! Come over here and introduce yourself!" The man in question stepped out in front of me and said,

"… My name's Jake, Human. Don't forget it."

"Okay, Jake, nice to meet _you_." I replied. Arc, noticing my discomfort, butt into the… conversation.

"Okay, we need to go now, Truth is, Dad's Waiting for us at home… so cya!" He said, running out of the building, this time, I followed his lead and ran too. When we got out, we started talking again to pass the time.

"So… I take it that Jake doesn't like humans?" I asked. Arc snorted and said,

"How'd you figure that out?" He asked back.

"Oh, I'm just real smart." I answered sarcastically. This time, Arc laughed out loud. From there, we talked about random things until we reached the farm house.

"—and _that's_ what really happened to Lionel's hat." Arc finished, just as we both stopped. Laughing, we both entered the house, but what awaited us was unnatural…

A _silence…_

-End

Author: again, sorry it took so long to update. Right now I'm working on Chp. 4's storyline. Anyway, it's the same as always, if you like this, pls review, if you have questions, pls review. 'Till then, Bye!

-Red


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Hello… everyone. It's been a long time since I've updated… please read the following to know why I'm talking/ typing like this…

Goodbyes…

(Arc's POV)

"Hey, Ren! Wanna go fishing with Dad and me?" I asked, slightly bouncing up and down, staring admirably up at my older friend, normally, I would never ask such a person to do such an activity my Dad and I did as shared hobby, but Ren… he's a special friend to me. He saved me when I threw a tantrum and tried to take on things I couldn't possibly have beaten. Other than my Dad, He was my Hero.

*Flashback*

(Ren's/Raguna's POV)

Shaking my head, I jumped into the fray, trying to get the orcs away from Arc. The latter noticed me, and immediately, started to fight back. Not a few seconds into the fight, I found both of us in the middle of five very angry, very tough-looking orcs. The orcs tried to land a hit on one or both of us, kicking and punching at any exposed areas. I, on the other hand, tried to defend myself. Five minutes in, I started to notice my movements getting slower, I berated myself, trying to keep my energy up. Suddenly, I heard a yelp as one of the monsters managed to get through Arc's defenses, hitting the boy on the head with the flat side of it's axe, knocking him unconscious. I took the extra time for the monster to regain its footing, plunging my blade into the back of it's neck, killing it. I picked up Arc's limp body, running through the gap in the ring of monsters. But I tripped over the monster's corpse, dropping Arc, and falling on my side. I tried to stand up, when I was able to, I spotted the monsters running toward Arc's body, weapons raised.

"Leave Him ALONE!!!!" I yelled, charging at the orcs at full speed, sword at the ready. Next thing I know,

_My vision turned red._

"Leave him alone!" I yelled, gripping my weapon tightly as I charged at the orcs, who had almost closed in on an unconscious Arc. But suddenly, my vision blurred, my forest surroundings replaced by a thin red mist. I started to feel… good. My senses seemed sharper than ever, my point of view closer to the ground… but then, I blacked out.

*End Flashback*

… Ren said he'd had no memory of what happened after that, but I remembered. He'd turned into something… something horrible, but nonetheless, he drove those monsters away, saving my life. I'd never forget that.

"… Uh, sure, Arc. When do we start?" Ren said. He was always like this, never really sure of his choices, but he would go through with them all the same. I was pretty happy that day, we all had so much fun, just sitting on the riverbank, fishing. I caught a lot, while Ren and Dad kept dropping their fish, when they did, which was often, they would both say words that if I said them, my mother would've washed my mouth out with one of Julia's Bath soaps… In the end, We all caught decent amounts of fish, We went home to cook them, inviting Ren to dinner with our family. It was a lot of fun compared to the first time Ren had dinner with us…

*Flashback*

(Ren's/ Raguna's POV)

"Sure, I'd love to join you." I answered. A few minutes later, we all sat down to eat, Kyle and Ceci on the right of the table, Arc and I on the left. The food was delicious, Ceci was one hell of a cook! But other than that, nothing really happened then… except that one conversation…

" Hey Red, what did you do before you came here, huh?" Arc asked through a mouthful of food, I blinked, not thinking he'd ask something like that.

"uh… I was a farmer…" I said, giving him a small smile. He didn't seem to buy it.

"Then why do you have a sword?" he asked, pointing to the weapon still strapped to my side.

"… I'm a warrior on the side…" I lied. Arc seemed to believe me this time. Glancing across from me, I saw Kyle and Ceci exchange nervous glances. When I saw Arc's face suddenly light up, I started getting nervous too.

"Hey Ren, could I fight you after lunch?'' he said after a long silence. I nearly choked on my food right then.

"Haha… sorry, I don't fight… kids…" I said, trying to put down the topic. Instead, I seemed to make him angry.

"I'm not a kid!" he shouted, slamming on the table with his fists. Thankfully, Kyle seemed to know this was about to happen. Standing up, he said,

"Arc, go to your room, please." in a quiet, but serious tone.

"but--" Arc began,

"No, no buts. Go to your room _now."_ Kyle said again. Caught in the middle, I could do nothing but watch. Arc looked like he was about to cry, I thought he would go to his room, but instead, he ran out of the house.

*End Flashback*

What else is there to say about him? A lot, I would say. He came here mysteriously, my Dad finding him passed out on one of the benches in Cherry Blossom Square. He never told us why he came here, just that he had amnesia and needed a place to live. He and Dad were so alike there. Just days after he rescued me, he had befriended everyone in the village, getting along with everyone so much that it was like he lived there from the beginning. Because of this, Ren was able to get the mayor to build a house for him. It was a very pretty place, they built it next to the school, right on the corner which lead to the Crossroads. To keep up with the bills for the house, Ren got a job working with Dad on the farm. This meant that he was able to visit us everyday for his shift as Farmer.

Everything was… well, perfect.

(AN: Everything so far in the story happened in the past. From here on, the story takes on a present tense and is happening now, not when the character is reminiscing about it.)

"Hey, Dad! Leonel and I are going to go visit Ren, is it ok with you?" I asked. Both my friend and I were both looking forward to this particular day, Ren promised us the other day that he'd take us to Trieste Forest to teach us some of his fighting moves. Leonel wanted to go when I told him about it because he wanted to prove his manliness to the other kids, and that he was just as good a fighter as his dad, Barrett. I wanted to go because I felt like it.

"All right, Arc, just make sure to be home by 6, you now how your mom gets when you're gone for a long time…" dad said, he still had the same look of terror on his face the night I came home late, Mom went insane on him, fussing over my safe return and blaming him for all of it. When I explained everything to her, and that it wasn't Dad's fault I'd been gone so long, she apologized to my Dad, and told me to wash up and go to bed. Dad seemed very happy the next day.

"Wahoo!" We both cheered, seconds later, we were running out the door at full speed, racing each other to Ren's house. When we got there, I knocked on his door loudly, calling out to my friend and reminding him of what we came there for.

There was no response. Leonel looked at me worriedly,

"That's weird… He'd normally be inviting us in by now…" He said, poking me in the ribs. No one else came to the door, because Ren didn't live with anyone. For as long as I've known him, Ren never showed to any of the other women in the village, we asked him why he didn't want to settle down,

"Now's not the right Time for me…" were his exact words, I never got what he meant by that, but it seemed he wasn't interested in finding Love, but as he said those words, his eyes said 'I already love someone'. Still thinking about this, we waited some more, getting more and more worried by the moment. Not able to stand it any longer, Leonel scratched at his head and yelled,

"What's taking him so long?!" Surprised by his outburst, I jumped a little. Seconds later, he turned and gave me a look I've seen before, he only looked like this when Orland had insulted him worse than usual. I predicted his next move and did it for him, stepping up to the door and unsheathing my sword.

"Power Wave!" I shouted the familiar words the same way Ren said them when he unleashed the powerful Move. A yellow beam of light burst from my weapon and engulfed the door, it shattered to pieces. The debris had barely settled on the floor when we ran into the house.

"What's go--" I started to say, but was speechless when I saw what was happening.

All the walls and floors of his house were bare, and standing in the middle of the empty house was none other than Ren himself. He was dressed in his original clothes and armor, the ones he wore when he arrived, and he was packing everything into his rucksack, I didn't know how he did it, but everything he put there seemed to shrink and find into his bag. When he finally noticed us, he turned around to greet us, there was a sad, faraway look in his eyes.

"Hello boys, glad to see you guys today…" He said, sighing somewhat when he said it.

"Ren! What are you doing?!" We both asked him, still shocked at the way everything had changed in his house.

"I'm sorry, but… I have to leave."

"…what?! Why?" I asked, tears began forming in my eyes, I didn't want to lose such an important friend. Leonel was already bawling. Ren's expression hardened at my question, he didn't want to do this either.

"Again, I'm sorry. I can't tell you my reason for doing this." He turned away from us and packed another item into his bag, it was a picture of my family and him surrounded by Dad's monsters, it was taken last spring, but I still remember that day.

"B-but you said we were gonna go t-train today, remember?!" I asked. I was at the end of my rope, sobs had started to choke my throat. He didn't even flinch, he took his time, and when he finally finished what he was doing, he turned back to us again,

"Oh, yes, I remember… I told you guys I'd teach you some fighting moves today…" The sad look in his eyes had faded a little, I saw the barest hint of mischief in them now. He picked up his bag and slung it casually over his shoulder, he started to turned his head at us, but he stopped. Looking away, he stared at the ground, a sad grin stretched over his face,

"Then… I guess I have to keep that promise. Want me to teach you one of my moves? Haha… normally, I would gladly teach you, But there's not enough room in this cramped abode…" He sighed slightly in this sentence. "… Since I don't have the time or space to teach you one, I'll demonstrate one of my favorite spells for you…" as he said this, a blue orb of light glowed and levitated over his hand.

"Learn this well!" he yelled,

"What are y--" I started, but was silenced when he raised the orb above his head, it got bigger, spreading around his body and covering him head to toe in a faint bluish light.

"Teleport!" he shouted, his form instantly brightened, blinding Leonel and I in the harsh light. When it subsided, he was gone. In his place was a single note, it was hastily torn from the inside of some book, and on it was scrawled one word:

'Goodbye.'

I was shocked that just one word had impacted me with such force, it was like being punched in the gut. I would've just collapsed right there, but I stayed standing. Folding the note carefully, I put it in my pocket and walked shakily over to my friend, who looked like he'd just suffered a heart attack.

"Let's go home. There's nothing else keeping us here." I said, still choking back sobs. We split up at the next corner and walked back to our homes, my legs felt like lead the entire way back. When I got home, Mom and Dad were going about their usual day, Mom was washing dirty dishes, and Dad was making more of them, it was very relaxing to watch them, it nearly killed me to have to break it. Dad noticed me first.

"Hey Arc, home so soon?" he joked. Mom had already finished her chore and now stood next to him,

"Yes, you really are early, did something happen?" She asked, she had noticed how my face looked, and had taken notice that I was close to tears. Sniffling a bit, I wordlessly walked over to them and fished the note out of my pocket, I handed it to my parents.

"What's this?" They both looked confused as to how I could have gotten upset over such a little thing, that is, until they read it.

Dad looked like his heart had broken, sadness filled his face. Mom burst into tears. They knew, even when I didn't tell them, that someone very important to both them had just walked out of their lives…

"I-is this what I think it is?" Dad said when he regained his voice.

"Yeah. He left. He left us right in front of my eyes." I said, I tried to sound brave, tried to sound like this was an insignificant event, but, in truth, I felt sadder than both of them.

"But… W--" Dad's question was cut off when we all heard a large thump at the door. We hurried over, going to the door in hopes that maybe… maybe he came back. Opening the door, we were surprised at what we saw.

"Oh!" My Mom gasped. Lying there, half dead, was a huge silver wolf. A black spot covered one of it's eyes; it was barely breathing, it's ribs shown out through it's fur. We weren't sure what to make of it, it was right there, that I noticed something.

"Dad? Is it me, or is that wolf holding something in its mouth?" I asked, reaching out to take it.

"Careful Arc, it might bite." My Dad cautioned me. I ignored him, still reaching out take it, when I pulled it out, the wolf didn't so much as twitch, it just opened its mouth and let me have it.

"…! This is…!" I gasped.

In it's mouth… was our family picture with Ren…

Author's Note: Yes, It's true. I'm officially ending this story. This ending wasn't well written, but I believed it better than to just write a few words on it, so I wrote a small story. It was fun to write this, though I'm sure not too many who read this are as sad as I feel about ending it so abruptly. Anyway, if there is a chance to continue this, I will. Just not now. I thank those who read this to the end, and I hope to hear from all of you soon.

Goodbye.

-Red


End file.
